Developing-tray.



No. 786,266. PjATENTED APR. 4, 1905. N. OARTMELL.

DEVELOPING TRAY.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5. 1903.

Z 60 2686665 [nae/223p I Jl ijazz Carfmed UNITED STATES NATHAN GARTMELL, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- Patented April 4, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

DEVELOPING-TRAY.

SPECIFICATION f rming p of Letters P n N 786,266, dated April 4, 1905.

Application filed June 5, 1903. Serial No. 160,202

To all whom, it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, NATHAN CARTMELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Developing-Tray, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to trays in which plates or films are developed.

The object of the invention is to so construct the tray that it will not be necessary to remove the plate from the tray in order to examine it in determining the amount of development, the construction being such that the tray and plate together may be turned into a vertical position and held toward the light Without any of the developer being removed from the tray, a further object being to provide means whereby when the tray and plate are in vertical position during the inspection of the plate the plate will be free from the developer except, of course, the film of developer, which remains upon the plate.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the invention in perspective.

The tray proper comprises a bottom 1, side walls 2, and end walls 3, preferably flaring somewhat and provided at one corner with a lip 4, through which the developer may be poured out. The bottom is constructed of a light transmitting materialsuch, for instance, as glass or celluloidand preferably the walls may be of the same material.

5 is a ledge which projects over the bottom from one wall, as shown, and forms what will be termed an auxiliary reservoir at one end of the tray.

In order to'prevent the plate or film from lying flat upon the bottom, one or more ribs 6 are formed on the bottom, which project a slight distance above it. The ribs 6 near the edge of the ledge 5 have abrupt projections 7, forming shoulders against which the edge of the negative may rest to prevent the same from slipping under the ledge 5.

In use the plate is placed in the tray in the developer, as is customary. As the process of development proceeds instead of lifting the plate out of the developer and tray to look through the plate the tray is lifted by the photographer into a vertical position, or nearly so, to bring the tray and plate in front of the light, and the developer flows into the reservoir at the lower end, and as the bottom of the tray is of a light-transmitting material the condition of the plate may be readily determined. Then the tray is tilted into the vertical position, the plate is supported upon the shoulders formed by the projections 7, and thus it is keptfree from the body of the developer, which lies in the reservoir, so that one portion of the plate is not acted upon by the developer more than another portion, as the film of developer which remains upon the negative wets the entire surface and causes uniform development during the short time in which the negative is under examination.

It will be observed that the fingers need not necessarily be placed in the developer at all, as the examination may be conducted with as much accuracy through the transparent or light-transmitting bottom as if the plate were entirely removed.

WVhen it is desired to remove the plate from the tray, the utility of the invention is again brought into play, as the tray may be tilted sufficiently to flow the developer into the reservoir,which allows the photographer to pick up the plate without getting his fingers in the liquid.

The tray, with ribs and ledge, may preferably be made integral; but it is obviously not arbitrary that parts of the tray other than the bottom be composed of a material which will transmit light.

The ledge 5 could be arranged along a side of the tray instead of along the end, as shown, and the width of the ledge should be such that the reservoir which it forms with the tray is of suflicient capacity to hold the amount of developer used.

It is evident that various changes might be made in the specific construction disclosed without departing from the spirit of the in- Vention.

hat I claim is A device of the character described comprising a tray of transparent material having flaring side and end Walls, a ledge across one 5 end of the tray forming a reservoir, and a pair of parallel ridges on the bottom of the tray and having squared shoulders.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses, at Los Angeles, in the IO county of Los Angeles and State of California, this 29th day of lflay, 1903.

NATHAN GARTMELL. Witnesses:

GEORGE T. HAGKLEY, JULIA ToWNsnND. 

